Email tone
Is it just me or is it hard to discern "tone" in an email? This age of communication technology has certainly enhanced many forms of nearly effortless communication. The email is one of the best in my opinion. However, some times it is not the best form and certainly shouldn't replace all types of communication.
I received an email years ago that left me wondering about the emotional state of the person. It started something like, "why wasn't I notified of this?" I couldn't tell if there was steam coming out of this person's ears or if this was just a simple question. I'm sure you've read several and wondered, too.
I've seen emails with bold letters, ALL CAPS, creative punctuation(!?!#!*), emoticons
and even text that is colored but usually that doesn't help, it just makes the email text look pretty.
As great as email is we have to be careful not to rely solely on it and to use it to communicate simple information. I catch myself emailing people who are acquaintances, friends, co-workers etc…and editing so that I am being as clear and simple as possible. I also try to read it from their perspective. What are they "hearing" when they read this?
That's all, my little rant is over for now.
December 5th, 2006 at 3:31 pm
I’ve always seen ALL CAPS as yelling. “WHY WASN”T I INFORMED OF THIS?” But, I know people - like my dad - that type everything in ALL CAPS. It’s probably just easier to read, but it’s yelling to me. If I was upset and sending you that message it would look something like this.
“WHY WASN”T I INFORMED OF THIS?????????????????????????????????”
December 7th, 2006 at 2:55 pm
Hey, David,
I have gotten to the point with email that I think it’s only appropriate for passing along information. No discussions, no hot topics, just the facts. Too much time, effort and hurt feelings have piled up in my workplace as a result of a misinterpreted (or sometimes a correctly interpreted) email. And sometimes, I feel that some people are much less restrained (polite, whatever) when they aren’t face to face, causing their emails to be even more acidic.
I got this from a workshop on communication that I recently attended:
During interpersonal communication
93% of the message is non-verbally transmitted
7% of the message is verbally communicated
Of the 93%
38% is through vocal tones
55% is through facial expressions
Not sure where that came from, but I can believe it.
Anyway, saw your blog, so I thought I’d comment. Miss you guys!
Bill
December 11th, 2006 at 3:16 pm
Great to hear from you Bill. You said it like I wish I had said it. Interesting about the non-verbal tones and expressions. david